LinkedIn Content Strategy for Executive Leadership Coaches | Netwarm
LinkedIn playbook · Case study
LinkedIn content strategy for executive leadership coaches: how a Washington, D.C. executive advisor reached 146 founders and executives in 5 weeks
We read every reaction on 30 posts from a Washington, D.C. executive advisor and author. 1,398 people, 146 founders and executives. Here is what brings buyers, what brings peers, and the 5 posts we’d publish next.
Max Sawyer · Netwarm··12 min read
The creator in this case studyA Washington, D.C. executive advisor and author
Followers49,574
Posts~6 a week
These numbers are from 2 November. Your audience has already moved.
New founders and executives turn Hot every week and others go quiet. Run your free scan to see today’s version, with the names.
Executive coaching and leadership advisory for founders, CEOs and executive teams, keynotes and workshops, private Leadership Truth Rooms, and the book Fiercely Joyful
PeriodSep 29 – Nov 2
Ideal client: founders, CEOs and senior executives whose leadership gaps (unclear decisions, silent meetings, a team that waits for them) stall growth.The challenge: The advisor posts six days a week: the LIE / TRUTH series, executive meeting habits, mindset and inner work, and personal stories on weight, running, family and the FAA. The posts draw 90 to 280 reactions, and half of the people who react are coaches, consultants, creators and other advisors. The headline promises to help founders and CEOs fix the leadership gaps that stall growth. Which posts reach those founders and executives?
Key takeaways
1 in 10 readers is a buyer.146 founders and executives reacted in 5 weeks: 10.4% of the 1,398 people who reacted. 52% are coaches, consultants, creators and other advisors.
The most-liked posts are not the buyer posts.The inherited beliefs post reached 17.5% founders and executives. The size 24 post, with almost twice the reactions, reached 7.1%.
6 of them are Hot right now.They reacted to 5 posts or more. One of them reacted to 21 of the 30.
01
Who actually reads you, and what the LinkedIn algorithm changed
The advisor posted 30 times between 29 September and 2 November: the LIE / TRUTH series, executive meeting habits, mindset and inner work, and personal stories.
The LinkedIn algorithm shows a post to the people who reacted to the last ones, then to people like them. Post daily about leadership, and the feed fills with other leadership coaches, consultants and creators. They react to everything. Reach can’t tell them apart from a founder with a leadership gap. Who reacted can. We sorted every person who reacted by role.
30posts in 5 weeks
1,398people reacted
146founders and executives
21came back 3+ times
Audience by roleThe 1,398 people who reacted, by roleFree
Founders, CEOs, presidents, C-level and VPs146 · 10.4%
Coaches, consultants, advisors, speakers and creators731 · 52.3%
Everyone else521 · 37.3%
52% of the people who react are coaches, consultants, advisors, speakers, authors and LinkedIn creators. Several of the most regular readers are in this group. They push reach, and they rarely hire an executive coach.
The 146 buyers are founders, CEOs, presidents, C-level executives and VPs. More than a third run or lead technology, AI and software companies.
SeniorityAll people who reactedFree
Founder, owner, C-level25.4%
Director, VP5.1%
Manager8.8%
Independent9.7%
Other51.1%
IndustriesFounders and executives onlyNetwarm
Technology, AI and software37.7%
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Core audience21 founders and executives engaged 3+ times · 6 engaged 5+ timesNetwarm
21 founders and executives keep coming back. One of them reacted to 21 of the 30 posts.See your regulars
Engager company sizeEveryone who reacted, by company sizeNetwarm
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See which company sizes your founders and executives work at.See company sizes
02
What to post on LinkedIn to reach founders and executives
Most coaches judge a post by its reactions. A coach who sells to founders and executives should judge it by who reacted.
We tagged each of the 30 posts by topic, then measured the share of founders and executives among the people who reacted.
Your topicsWhat your 30 posts were aboutFree
30posts
Mindset and inner work10
Executive room habits9
Personal stories7
LIE / TRUTH series4
Topics that attract founders and executivesShare of each topic’s reactions from founders and executivesNetwarm
Mindset and inner work9.6%
LIE / TRUTH series9.0%
Executive room habits8.2%
Personal stories6.9%
One post brought 3x the share of founders and executives of another. See which.See which topics
By topic, the shares are close: 6.9% to 9.6% founders and executives. By post, they are not: the best post reached 17.5%, the most-liked one 5.2%.
Posts that brought the most founders and executivesShare of founders and executives in each post’s reactions1 of 5 open
#1Operating on inherited beliefs protects leaders from having to examine who handed them their rules17.5%
#2The hardest stretch of building anything arrives when your effort is real and the evidence is invisible14.3%
#3I haven’t heard my own voice clearly in weeks14.1%
#4LIE: What your career needs is a mentor12.5%
#5Meetings after the meeting aren’t productive11.2%
For comparison, the post on the reactions to an actress returning at 64 had 277 reactions, the most of the period, and reached 5.2% founders and executives. The post on fleeting joy reached 2.0%, the lowest share.
6 rules for LinkedIn engagement from founders and executives
These rules come from what worked on the advisor’s own profile, and from the best-performing posts by executive coaches and leadership advisors on LinkedIn over the last 3 months.
1
Name a belief leaders never chose. “Operating on inherited beliefs protects leaders from…” makes an executive look at their own rules. It reads as a mirror, not as advice.On this profile: the inherited beliefs post reached 17.5% founders and executives, the highest share of the period.
Put the reader in the silent executive room. Founders and executives know the meeting where everyone nods. Name it, and say what the silence costs.Across the niche: a decision-making counsel’s post on the quietest place she worked drew 633 likes and 332 comments.
Keep the LIE / TRUTH series. A line executives hear every week, then the truth behind it. A named series brings readers back.On this profile: the mentor vs sponsor post reached 12.5% founders and executives, the open door post drew 227 reactions.
Give the exact words to say. Replace one question with another. Executives can use it in their next meeting, and they remember who gave it to them.Across the niche: a leadership expert’s 12 questions that turn silence into engagement drew 469 likes and 84 comments.
Quote what a client said in the first call. One sentence from a real client shows buyers what you hear every week, and that people like them already work with you.Across the niche: an executive coach’s post built on one director’s first-call sentence drew 206 comments on 149 likes.
Tie every personal story to a leadership decision. Personal stories bring reactions from everyone. The ones that end on what a leader should do differently bring the buyers too.On this profile: personal stories reached 6.9% founders and executives, the lowest of the four topics. Across the niche, a strategy executive’s story of saying “Okay” at work drew 1,858 likes.
When founders and executives read: the best time to post on LinkedIn for executive leadership coaches
We compared the share of founders and executives by the day each post was published (Eastern time). Each day from Monday to Saturday had 5 posts, so the gaps are a direction, not a law.
Share of founders and executives by posting dayAmong the people who reacted to each postFree
7.9%
Mon
8.2%
Tue
8.5%
Wed
8.8%
Thu
6.6%
Fri
10.9%
Sat
Saturday brought the highest share (10.9%, about 11 founders and executives per post). Thursday came second (8.8%). Friday was lowest (6.6%).
29 of the 30 posts went out between 6 and 8 a.m. Eastern time, so there is no hour to compare yet.
Put the belief and LIE / TRUTH posts on Saturday and Thursday mornings, and move personal stories away from Friday.
05
5 posts ready to publish to target founders and executives
Each post follows the rules above, in the advisor’s voice. Swap in your own details before posting: the real story is what makes it land.
1Ready to postInherited belief
Answering in the hourRule 1: name a belief leaders never chose, then the rules it hides. Modelled on the inherited beliefs post, the highest share of founders and executives of the period.
Hook
Answering every message within the hour protects leaders from having to decide what matters.Speed feels like commitment.You picked that up early. From the manager who praised the first reply. From the culture that read a slow answer as a lack of care.Nobody asked you if it was true.Rules about speed that most executives still follow:A good leader is always reachable.A fast answer is better than a right one.If you wait, people will think you don’t care.Each one costs you the hours where the real decisions get made.The founders I work with who scale well do one thing differently. They decide what deserves a fast answer, and they tell their team.Everything else waits until they’ve thought about it.Question the rules you never chose.———————-
➕ Follow me (Tash) for leadership that decides what matters
Visual · Text onlyNo image: the post works as text, like the inherited beliefs post.Check before posting“The founders I work with” is a general claim: keep it if it matches what you see with your clients.
LIE: “We’re aligned.”Rule 3: keep the LIE / TRUTH series, on a line executives say every week. Modelled on the mentor vs sponsor post, the best of the series for founders and executives.
Hook
LIE: “We’re aligned.”TRUTH: Nobody disagreed in the room. That’s not the same thing.Alignment is what people do when you’re not there to watch.You see the gap a week later.The VP who nodded is still waiting for someone else to move first.The director who said “sounds good” is building a slightly different plan.The decision you thought was closed gets reopened in a one-to-one.None of that is bad faith. It’s what happens when people agree with the leader instead of the plan.Three questions I ask before I call a team aligned:What will you do differently on Monday because of this decision?What would make you push back on it in a month?Who here thinks we’re wrong, and what would they say?If nobody can answer the first one, you don’t have alignment.You have a polite room.———————-
➕ Follow me (Tash) for leadership that builds clarity, not consensus
Visual · Single imageA black card with “LIE: We’re aligned.” on top and the TRUTH line underneath, in the style of the series.Check before postingKeep the three questions if they match what you use with executive teams.
5 questions that make your executive meeting honestRules 2 and 4: put the reader in the silent executive room, then give the exact words. Modelled on a decision-making counsel’s “most dangerous place I worked was the quietest” (633 likes) and a leadership expert’s 12 questions post.
Hook
Your executives don’t stop talking in meetings. They stop telling you the truth.The updates still come. The slides still look good.But the client that’s slipping, the hire that isn’t working, the timeline nobody believes, all of it reaches you late.Usually after the meeting. Usually from one person in the hallway.The fix starts with the questions you ask in the room.Replace “Does everyone agree?”
with “What concern haven’t we heard yet?”Replace “Any questions?”
with “What would make this fail?”Replace “Are we on track?”
with “What are you worried about that isn’t on the slide?”Replace “Good, let’s move on.”
with “Who sees this differently?”Replace “Let me know if you need anything.”
with “What decision do you need from me this week?”Then wait. Count to ten if you have to.The first honest answer is the hardest one. How you react to it decides if there will be a second.Which question will you try first?
Visual · CarouselSix slides: the hook, then one “Replace / with” pair per slide.Check before postingPick the questions you really use with clients and swap any that don’t sound like you.
The point that arrives after the meetingThe lead magnet: one page a leader can use before the next meeting, offered with a comment keyword. Modelled on the meetings-after-the-meeting post and the comment-keyword offers that work across B2B.
Hook
The most important point of your last meeting was made in the hallway, after it ended.Someone found you and said, “Can I share one thing?”It was the thing that would have changed the decision.You asked why they didn’t say it in the room. You already know the answer.They didn’t think it would land.Leaders can change that, but not with “my door is always open.” It takes a few habits before, during and after the meeting:Before: send the decision and the question you want challenged, 24 hours ahead.During: ask the most junior person to speak first.During: name one risk yourself, so the room knows risks are allowed.After: ask one person, “What did we miss?”, and thank them in front of the team next time.After: write down what changed because someone spoke up.I put these on one page with the exact questions I use with executive teams.Comment ROOM and I’ll send it to you.
Visual · Single imageA plain card: “Before / During / After” with one line under each.Check before postingMake the one-page sheet before posting and share it through a Reveal link, so you see which founders and executives open it.
5Ready to postPersonal story + leadership decision
The approving official nobody looked atRules 5 and 6: a personal story from the room, tied to a decision leaders make. Modelled on the most-senior-person post and a strategy executive’s “Saying Okay” story (1,858 likes).
Hook
I was the one who could say yes. They spent the whole meeting talking to the people next to me.It happened more than once in my years at the FAA.The first time, I let it go. I told myself the result mattered more than who got the eye contact.It didn’t. Every time I let it go, the next meeting started the same way.So I changed one thing. At the start, I said who was in the room, what each of us was there to do, and who would make the decision.Then: “Please continue.”The meeting changed. Not because I raised my voice. Because I made the room clear.Here is what I ask leaders now:Who in your meetings gets talked past?Is it the newest person, the only woman, the only one from another team?You may not see it. They do. And they decide, one meeting at a time, whether their voice is worth bringing.Make the room clear. It costs you ten seconds.———————-
➕ Follow me (Tash) for leadership that sees the whole room
Visual · Single imageA photo of you speaking at a table or on stage.Check before postingThe “more than once” detail is written as a plausible version of your FAA story: check it against what really happened.
Free forever: unlimited scheduling through LinkedIn’s official API, with images, video and PDF carousels.
06
LinkedIn lead generation: lead magnets that work to target founders and executives
A reaction tells you an executive agreed with a post. A download tells you they have the problem. For an executive coach, one page a leader uses before the next meeting is worth more than 100 likes.
These formats work for B2B advisors right now.
Format 1Book lessons + comment keywordShare the lessons from a book, then offer the full version to people who comment one word.
Format 2Fill-in workbookA template with a short scorecard, offered with a comment keyword. Each comment is a name and a problem.
Format 3Weekly frameworks newsletterA useful list in the post, and a weekly letter with frameworks and exact words in the p.s.
Our pick for you: the “Before / During / After” meeting page
Our pick for you: “Our pick for you: the “Before / During / After” meeting page”The advisor already writes about the meeting after the meeting and has a book with downloadable tools. Put the habits and questions for honest executive meetings on one page, offer it with a comment keyword on the fourth draft above, and share it through a Reveal link to see which founders and executives open it.With a Reveal link, every person who downloads it is shown by name, with their role and how warm they are. Your first Reveal link is free.Create your free Reveal link
07
From reactions to clients: who to message, and when
Most founders and executives never comment. They react, read, and move on. A reaction is the only sign they leave.
A buyer is Hot when they react to several posts in a short time. That is the moment a short, helpful message gets a reply.
Hot right now6 founders and executives · not contacted yetNetwarm
6 founders and executives are Hot. See who to message first.See who’s Hot
First messageAn opener for each Hot person, based on the posts they readNetwarm
Hi, I saw you read my post on meetings after the meeting. Is that something you see in your own leadership team?Hi, thanks for following the LIE / TRUTH series. Can I send you the one-page meeting questions I use with executive teams?
A first line for each of them, ready to send.See the openers
Netwarm shows who these Hot founders and executives are, what they reacted to, and when to reach out.
08
FAQ
On this profile, posts that name a belief leaders never chose brought the highest share of founders and executives (17.5% for the best one). The LIE / TRUTH series and executive meeting habits come next. Personal stories brought the most reactions but the lowest share (6.9%).
On this profile, Saturday brought the highest share of founders and executives (10.9%), then Thursday (8.8%). Friday was lowest (6.6%). Posts went out early morning, Eastern time.
About 6 posts a week reached 146 founders and executives in 5 weeks here. Which posts you publish matters more than how many: the best post brought 3x the share of the most-liked one.
Look at who reacts, not how many. On this profile, 52% of the people who reacted were coaches, consultants, advisors and creators, and 10% were founders and executives.
Netwarm needs no LinkedIn login and does not post or message for you, so there is no risk to your account.
How we made this playbook
We read the first 100 reactions on each of the 30 posts published between 29 September and 2 November 2026: 2,933 reactions from 1,398 people. Comments were not counted.
Each person was sorted by the role in their LinkedIn headline. Role groups are approximate.
The niche rules come from the best-performing posts by executive coaches and leadership advisors on LinkedIn over the last 90 days.
